FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
Contacts:
Marni Lane, US SAILING, 617-671-8332
Lisa Ramsperger, U.S. Olympic Committee, 719-866-4805
LONG-AWAITED BREEZE IS A WELCOME CHANGE FOR SAILORS COMPETING AT PAN AM GAMES
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (July 26, 2007) – Sailors welcomed strong winds, allowing most classes to complete three races today at the XV Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. All nine U.S. boats remain among the top five heading into tomorrow’s final day on the water prior to Saturday’s medal race at Gloria Marina.
Six disciplines have now finished eight races – RS:X Men, RS:X Women, Hobie Cat 16, Laser, Laser Radial, and Sunfish – and will face only the two scheduled races on Friday. The Snipe, J24 and Lightning boats will attempt to complete three races Friday to make up for cancellations earlier in the week.
Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) recorded two first-place finishes among her three races today to jump into second place in the Laser Radial with 21 points. Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.) posted a bullet in his first race of the day -- his third of the regatta -- and he maintains his lead in the Laser.
The Lightning crew of David Starck (Buffalo, N.Y.), Bill Faude (Chicago, Ill.) and Jody Starck (Buffalo, N.Y.) remained consistent on the water with three top-five finishes today (3-2-3) to sit in third place and only three points behind the leader, Chile.
Paul Forester (Rockwall, Texas) finished second in his seventh and eighth races of the regatta today and has held steady among the top three all week.
The Snipe team of Augie Diaz (Miami, Fla.) and Tracy Smith (Newport, R.I.) notched a bullet in their first race of the day, but dropped to fourth place with 19 points. They are just one point behind third-place Mexico with three races scheduled for Friday.
Four U.S. boats sit in fifth-place heading into Friday’s final races. The J24, Hobie 16, and both the RS:X Men and Women will look for strong finishes to advance to the medal race on Saturday.
Tomorrow, the sailors will face their final day of sailing prior to the medal races. The top five boats in each class will advance to Saturday’s finals. Races begin at 12 p.m. local on Friday.
The XV Pan American Games feature 5,654 athletes from 42
nations competing in 37 sports. The sailing competition is taking place at the
Glória Marina in the Guanabara Bay. The Pan American Games are held every four
years, historically one year before the Olympic Games. The first Pan American
Games were held in 1951 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For more information,
visit: www.rio2007.org.br.
About US SAILING
The United States Sailing Association (US SAILING) is the National Governing
Body for sailing. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode
Island, the organization provides leadership for the sport of sailing in the
U.S. US SAILING offers training and education programs for instructors and
race officials, supports a wide range of sailing organizations and
communities, issues offshore rating certificates, and provides administration
and oversight of competitive sailing across the country, including National
Championships and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Teams. For more
information, please visit
www.ussailing.org.
RESULTS
Top Three and USA
Laser Radial (12 boats) – 3 races today/8 total
1. Mexico [9]-6-1-2-2-3-3-2: 19 (Tania Elias Calles Wolf)
2. USA 4-1-[9]-3-6-1-5-1: 21 (Paige Railey/Clearwater, Fla.)
3. Argentina 3-4-[7]-1-4-5-2-3: 22 (Cecilia Carranza Saroli)
Laser (12 boats) – 3 races today/8 total
1. USA 1-[5]-2-1-3-1-2-4: 14
(Andrew Campbell/San Diego, Calif.)
2. Brazil 3-[4]-3-3-2-[5]-1-1: 17 (Robert Scheidt)
3. Argentina 7-1-1-[11]-1-4-3-2: 19 (Julio Alsogaray)
RS:X Men (nine boats) -- 2 races today/8 total
1. Brazil [3]-2-3-1-2-1-2-1: 12 (Ricardo Winicki)
2. Mexico 1-1-1-4-[6]-2-3-4: 16 (David Mier Y Teran)
3. Argentina 2-3-2-[5]-3-3-1-3: 17 (Mariano Reutemann)
5. USA 5-4-[6]-6-4-6-4-6: 35 (Ben Barger/Tampa, Fla.)
RS:X Women (seven boats) – 3 races today/8 total
1. Canada 1-1-1-[3]-1-2-1-3: 10 (Dominique Vallee)
2. Brazil [4]-3-2-1-2-1-2-2: 13 (Patricia Castro)
3. Argentina 2-2-[4]-4-4-3-4-4: 23 (Florencia Gutierrez)
T4. USA 3-8(OCS)-3-5-5-5-5-5: 31 (Nancy Rios/Cocoa Beach, Fla.)
Lightning (seven boats) – 3 races today/7 total
1. Chile 1-1-8(OCS)-1-4-3-2: 12
(Alberto Gonzalez, Diego Gonzalez, Cristian Herman)
2. Brazil 2-3-4-2-[5]-1-1: 13 (Claudio Biekarck, Gunnar Ficker, Silva Marcelo)
3. USA 3-[4]-1-3-3-2-3: 15 (David Starck/Buffalo, N.Y.; Bill Faude/Chicago, Ill.; Jody Starck/Buffalo, N.Y.)
Sunfish (11 boats) – 3 races today/8 total
1. Venezuela [3]-1-2-2-3-2-1-1:
12 (Eduardo Cordero)
2. Peru 1-6-1-5-1-[10]-6-3: 23 (Alexander Zimmermann)
3. USA 2-5-3-[8]-4-7-2-2: 25 (Paul Foerster/Rockwall, Texas)
J24 (seven boats) – 3 races today/7 total
1. Brazil 8(DNC)-1-1-1-2-4-1:
10 (Carlos Jordao, Mauricio Oliveria, Daniel Santiago, Alexandre Silva)
2. Argentina 1-2-4-2-1-1-[6]: 11 (Joaquin Argerich, Gustavo Gonzalez, Sebastian Brusa, Alejo Rigoni)
3. Uruguay 4-3-8(OCS)-3-4-2-2: 18 (Santiago Silveria, Sebastian Rana, Alejandro Foglia Mafio, Nicolas Shaban)
5. USA 6-5-2-5-6-[7]-3: 27 (Daniel Borrer/St. Augustine Beach, Fla.; Nate Vilardebo/Tampa, Fla.; Patrick Wilson/Savannah, Ga.; Josh Putnam/Augusta, Ga.)
Hobie Cat 16 (eight boats) -- 3 races today/8 total
1. Brazil 1-1-2-[4]-2-1-3-1: 11
(Bernardo Arndt, Bruno Oliveira)
2. Guatemala 3-2-[6]-2-6-2-2-3: 20 (Juan Ignacio Maegli, Cristina Guirola)
3. Venezuela 4-3-3-[6]-1-3-4-5: 23 (Gonzalo Cendra, Yamil Saba)
5. USA 6-4-1-1-3-[7]-6-6: 27 (Bob Merrick/Branford, Conn.; Eliza Cleveland/Branford, Conn.)
Snipe (11 boats) – 3 races today/7 total
1. Brazil 1-3-[6]-4-2-1-1: 12
(Pedro Amaral, Alexandre Paradeda)
2. Uruguay 2-2-2-2-[6]-2-4: 14 (Pablo Defazio, Eduardo Medici)
3. Mexico 3-[10]-3-1-1-4-4-3: 18 (Jorge Xavier Murrieta, Andres Akle Carranza)
4. USA 5-4-1-3-1-5-[7]: 19 (Augie Diaz/Miami, Fla.; Tracy Smith/Newport, R.I.)
QUOTES FROM THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2007
Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.)
“I tend to do a lot better in the lighter air, so it was nice to hang on today. I still don’t have a really deep throw-out, so that’s helpful.”
“Today was a great day; it was really fun – fun racing, fun sailing. It was a little chilly, but there were no complaints at all about the conditions today. I think everybody had great stuff. I know I had a blast – I really like racing against these guys.
Paul Foerster (Rockwall, Texas)
“I just try to win every race and not take too much of a risk.”
(End)